In Pursuit of Wisdom

For as long as I can remember all I’ve ever really wanted from life is to be happy, truly content. Much of my life, perhaps too much of it, has been spent in pursuit of that goal. As a young man I believed it was the material world that would bring me happiness but I was wrong. Although I was able to acquired some wonderful toys along the way, new cars, guitars, motorcycles, our first little house, followed just eighteen months later by a brand spanking new one! Hell we even got to pick out the tile and carpeting! Yeah life was good. We had a whole bunch of stuff including a huge debt! But I wasn’t any happier than I was before. What a waste of valuable years. Actually it wasn’t really a waste as I did learn a valuable lesson from the whole experience.

My next stop was religion. I truly believed that God and the Church might hold the key to my happiness. Things were fine for awhile, yeah I felt on fire inside and thought I was on the right path at last. Little by little the happiness I thought I’d found was fading as I began to see the true nature of the Church community. It was nothing more than a microcosm of the big bad world outside the church doors. Oh it was all sweetness and love on the outside, but the church community was filled with many two faced, hypocrites who would smile and shake your hand one moment then stab you in the back the next. After a moving Sunday sermon on brotherhood I watched the bickering and infighting that went on behind the scenes the different committees and groups, of our church community. All the power grabbing, influence and persuasion reminiscent of any big business group. It was all about money and power. Needless to say my inner fire soon burned out and I again found solace in materialism. And again I was no happier than I was before.

Then I began to look inward and my search led me to an awareness that I never felt before. A good friend had once told me that we were made in God’s image, and that our bodies are temples of the Holy spirit, God resides in us and is a part of our very being, therefore we are God. I used to laugh and tell him that he was wrong, but the more I looked inward the more I began to believe that maybe, just maybe he might be right. We are One in spirit. Maybe we are God after all.

In time my inner search brought me to a crossroad. In one direction lay happiness, in the other diversion. In my heart I knew in what direction I needed to go to find the inner peace I sought. Yeah, the road to growth and understanding called me by name. I’d like to say that I listened and took that road immediately but of course I didn’t. It took some time for me to gather my wits, shed my greed and selfish needs and make a move to the right. I only wish I’d done it earlier.

Soon I was back on track, learning about myself and my relationship with God and man, happier than I’d been in years. Yeah I was on a quest, yearning for knowledge and wisdom, because I learned that before you can be truly happy you must first attain wisdom. Wisdom is insight. wisdom is truth, the ultimate truth. But as I have learned the road to wisdom and happiness is not an easy one. It is a road marred with hidden traps, ruts and diversions that make it far too easy to stumble, backslide or stop altogether. If you too are on the road to find out and if you want to attain the wisdom of Solomon that can set you free, place your trust in God, look inward for the answers you seek and never forget the greater reward that awaits you… The search goes on…